Help eggs to hot to keep

[SallyF]

And if you (or anyone else) is too squeamish to eat them, cook them and feed 'em back to the hens. Don't waste all that good protein! I gather eggs once a day and only worry about it if the temperature is below freeziing, which it rarely ever is around here. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even worry about it then.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you are the least bit nervous about it, crack the egg into a cup before you use it. You will know beyond a doubt if it is not good. They used to tell you to do that whenever you cooked. But so seldom is one bad, that most people don't any more.

better than just throwing them! mk

 

[Tala]

It was 100*F most of the day, and I haven't collected the eggs yet. I try not to leave them longer than a day at those temps coz I'm afraid that they might start to incubate.
They won't just go bad overnight though, I keep my eggs at room temp (mid-70's) with no problems.

I only worry if they set out for an "unknown" amount of time --- if I find an egg stash somewhere that I don't know how old they are. I feed questionable eggs to the dogs, or as others said, back to the hens. No waste if I can help it!

 

[dlfridie]

Thanks ya'll!

There's still much to learn about chickens, even though I've had them over a year.
New challenges constantly pop up.
Honestly, w/out BYC I don't know how I could keep the hens alive!

 

[booker81]

If ever in doubt, just stick the egg in a cup of water, if it sinks it's good (and always crack into a separate dish to double check).

The only thing I'd worry about is incubating a chick if they are fertile eggs, and that would probably be after a couple days. Non-fertile, I wouldn't worry a bit.

For fun, here's a link for a fantastic study on eggs sitting out at room temp or refrigerated.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

 

[CarriageStone]

We bought a year old Blue Andalusian hen on July 2nd. Couldn't wait for my Spring chicks to get old enough to start laying.

She laid her first two eggs in the coop and then we didn't find anymore. I thought it might have been the stress of a new environment or possibly the heat. However, cutting the grass this morning I found her nest in some tall grass out back. There were fourteen eggs in total. Now, it's been 100 degrees here on many days through July, but that part of the yard is always shaded and considerably cooler. We gathered the eggs and have them in a bowl of water. None are floating. I cracked a couple of them and they look good so far. Question for the group: what would you do with them?

 

[booker81]

Quote:
Make a big ol' family omelet!

 

[Annabella]

If none floated - I agree make an omelet or how about a huge sponge cake!! Yum!!

Booker - that was a very interesting link regarding the test on how long eggs might keep. Thanks for that

 

[booker81]

Thanks! I'm not sure who the credit should go to for it - I found it here and bookmarked it, to share as much as possible.

Eggs are neat

 

[deerman]

Quote:
float test is for age of eggs....egg real fresh will lay flat on bottom, eggs week old egg large end will be off the bottom, 2 or 3 weeks will stand on small end on bottom, very old eggs will float.....reason as an egg ages the air cell gets larger.